Phonic game



Aug. 31, 1937.

w. B. MESSINGER PHONIC GAME Filed May 20, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNE Y.

[Jim/@450 w. B. MESSINGER 2,091,555

PHONIC GAME Filed May 20, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Aug. 31, 1937.

Aug. 31, I w B MESSINGER PHONIC GAME Filed May 20, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5AT RNEY Patented Aug. 31, 1937 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 15 Claims.

My invention relates generally to the improvement of reading, andpresents a means enabling a novel and improved method of presentation ofphonics by primary teachers, or in the home, .in the form of games,riddles and the like. The attention of the child, necessary to producelasting memory impressions, is best attained and held through an appealto more than one of the five senses, and my device appeals to the senses10 of touch, hearing and sight.

It is my object, by picturing, grouping and associating most frequentlyused words or phonograms, either involving consonants or vowelcombinations, or both, in various interesting ways, to

L3 'provide a key to reading, and by riddles, games and the like, toprovide a purpose or goal to which the child works with intense interestor concentration that gains the quick translation desired. It is mypurpose to equip the small 20 child with a tool by which he can fulfillall the five requirements necessary to achieve greater ability inreading. (Dr. A. I. Gates book, The

Improvement of Reading, pages 154 and 155.)

More specifically, it is an object to group like word elements orphonograms, providing a key to the pronunciation of the dominant soundor characteristic of each group, and to provide other word elements,letters or phonograms for combination with the group phonograms to com-30 'plete the word, one or the other of the word elements havingpictured objects associated with the letter, word element or phonogram,so that by association with the pictured object the child unconsciouslyassociates the sound of the phono- 35 gram with the object which alsoappears upon the card or like device which carries the phonogram.

It is a further object, in association with the grouping of the basicphonograms, to provide a key means whereby the child can have a picturedsound, corresponding to the sound common to (the group of phonograms, ora picture which he associates with a single definite vowel sound, whichkey element is grouped or associated with the phonograms of thatparticular vowel sound.

My invention, and its various objects in addition to those indicatedabove, will be more clearly apparent from a study of the attacheddrawings,

50 bf this specification and of the claims terminating the same.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in aform which is convenient for school use, it being understood that 55 theprinciples thereof may be embodied in various forms,for instance, inblocks, in cards like playing cards, and the like.

My invention comprises the novel parts and elements, and the novelassembly and relative jdisplay thereof as shown in the accompanying 5drawings, disclosed in this specification, and as will be moreparticularly pointed out by the claims which terminate the same.

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective Views of the left and right ends of adisplay stand, showing my invention set up in position of use.

Figure 3 is a similar view of portions of such a stand, showing aslightly modified form of the phonogram cards.

It will be understood that the particular form in which my invention isassembled may vary widely. I have found it convenient for school use toemploy as the support a board 9 which has a plurality of longitudinalslots 95, the board being usually supported by a brace or easel back(not shown), by means of which it can beset up in inclined positionwhere it is easily seen by all of the pupils. This arrangement can bevaried at will. While I shall refer hereafter to the phonograms asprinted upon cards and certain of these cards arranged in the form ofhouses in streets, it will be understood that the phonograms may be uponblocks, as has already been indicated, or other devices, and that theymay take the form of animals, houses, toys, or various other deviceswhich are familiar to the child, and which oiTer a means of groupingthem.

On such cards, designated by the numerals l,

2, 3, 4, and 5, formed as houses, are placed family phonogramsrecognized by educators to be of most frequent usage, grouped in theseparate streets of d, i, 6, 12. These vowel sounds are preferablyindicated by means of coloring the cards differently, and by coloringcertain areas of the board 9 in corresponding colors, each colorcorresponding to a given vowel sound. Thus, for instance, the area 9| isin red, and the cards I bearing the word elements II], are printed inred. This particular street, as it may be called, .being composed ofdifferent houses or phonograms, is all in red, and all of the vowelsounds represent the short letter a. To indicate this sound to thechild, a key card Il may be printed in red, and grouped with the cardsi, this representing, for instance, a baby in the act of uttering thecharacteristic sound of the short letter ;a. The letter a is indicatedat l2 on the card II, and thus all of those houses which are grouped inthe area 9| may be called a street, giving. the letter the short sound.

iu u

Similarly, the area 92 may be in brown, and the cards 2 are in brown,and bear the word elements 20, which in this case, may be the shortsound of the letter .e. Another key card 2| is employed at the head ofthis street, and the letter 6, shown at 22, gives the appearance of theletter the sound of which is represented. The pictured element on thekey card 21 may be a deaf person in the act of uttering the questioningsound of the letter e, usually written eh. The next area 93, may be ingreen, and the cards 3 are printed in green, and bear the word elements30 representing the short sound of the letter i. The area 94 may be inyellow, and the cards 4 are printed in yellow, and bear": the wordelements representing the short sound of the letter 0. The key card4|,at the head of 0 street, pictures a horn. which gives the sound ofthe letter 42 carried on this key card.

The area 95 may be in blue, and the cards 5 are printed in blue and bearthe word elements corresponding to the short sound of the letter u. Thekey card 5|, bearing the letter it represented at 52, may picture, forinstance, a pig in the act of grunting, which gives the short sound ofthe letter 11.. The cards described teach Dr. Gates requirement 1 andalso, in his requirement 2, the similarities and differences of thephonograms are stressed.

There may be a miscellaneous "street or area, represented at 96 and 91,where various letters or combinations are to be found. For instance, thelong sound of the letter 0 is represented at l; the long sound of 00 isrepresented at ill; the diphthong ow is represented at H; the ea soundis represented at 12; and the broad sound of a is represented at 13.These miscellaneous areas may be of a characteristic color, ,as orange,and the cards in these streets are likewise orange. Obviously no keycard can be employed for such groups, but the suggestion as topronunciation may be obtained from initial cards, which will now bedescribed.

The cards thus far described bear word elements which would be the basisof a word. Usually, the word which would be made up with these basecards would be common monosyllables, and usually nouns, which can bepictured, but it is equally simple to make up verbs and like words, foractions can be pictured, and also to add terminal letters to form longerWords and polysyllables. However, to combine with the cards thus fardescribed, it is my intention to use initial cards 8, each of whichbears upon it an initial phonogram, as is indicated at 80, and bearsalso pictured representations of various objects or actions the names ofwhich contain the same initial phonogram. These initial phonograms, onthe diiferent cards 8, would be-different from those on other suchcards. Thus, at the. left of Figure 1 the initial card 8 carries theletters 11, and there is pictured a flag and a fly.

A pictured initial letter card may be presented as riddles to thepupils, each naming the pictures on his riddle card. For instance, onthe card bearing the letter 0, he names candy, cup, "c0rn, cap, coat,candle, car, and The pupils listening and watching his lips guessthe'many times repeated sound of the letter 0, which sound the teacherdesignate-s as the nickname. of Mr. C. In this interesting manner, thechildren quickly learn the sounds of all of the alphabet andcombinations, such as system can be employed to teach verbs.

st, sp, squ, sic, and so forth. A child three or four years old can soonlearn by himself eachinitial sound because he repeats it each time henames a new picture on the card. The cards 8 teach Dr. Gates requirement1.

The pictured objects on the initial cards 8 also suggest words to bemade. Thus the child, seeing the flag, may wish to make the word flag bycombining the initial card 8 bearing the letters fl witha card I bearingthe phonogram an or he may make some other word, such as flap; with thatcard 8 which bears the phonogram thr, he may wish to make the picturedthread, and combines it with the proper house we find frighten made upof a card 8 bearing the phonogram fr and suggested by the frog and thefringe, and the house card 14 bearing the phonogram ight, and theterminal card 85 bearing the final syllable en. In like manner squirrelis built up, and in this instance, the house card may have borne theletters z'rt, for instance, but the terminal card 85 bearing the lettersrel is so placed as to cover the t in irt.

It will be noticed that all of the initialcards 8 bear picturedrepresentations of objects the names of which have as their initialphonogram the same initial phonogram carried at 8!) upon the cards. Thusthe card 8 in the street 92 carries pictures of a light, a leaf, alemon, a letter, a lamp, and a lid. To a considerable extent, theserepresent different vowel sounds, though in some instances they arealike. In Figure 2 it will be seen how a card 8 may bear a three-lettercombination, as thr, a clearly perceptible part of the word. (Dr. Gatesrequirement 4)-An attempt, otherwise, to sound the t and h and rseparately would be disastrous.

The employment of pictured representations on :the cards is purely forthe purpose of inducing the child to associate a given sound (common toall the illustrations) with the associated letter or letter group,thereby teaching him the sound .of that letter or group. As a check, andas the -next step in learning to read, cards bearing such letters orgroups, but omitting the illustrations,

may be employed as substitutes for the cards 8, or

the letters or groups may be upon the backs of the same cards, and asthe child has learned the sound of that letter or group by associationwith and to makeup words of the objects which are pictured on the cards8. Nevertheless, the same Thus, in Figure 2 we find the Verb see, whichof course, can not be pictured, but by association the child has learnedthe sound of the letter s from theinitial car-d, and the sound of the caon the phonogram card, and thus it becomes an easy step from the name ofpictured objects to the name of objects which are not pictured, and

to verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and the like which so that now the cardsl bear, in addition to the phonogram l9, pictures of words to be formed,as indicated at l5, the man, the fan and the pan, all of which may bemade up through the the illustration, he continues to associate thesound with the letter or group, and commences combination with thephonogram III of other phonograms on different initial cards 8. InFigure 3 the child sees the flag on a card 8, and sees a flag at I5 on acard I, and by matching the two pictures he gets the idea of combiningthe two cards and pronounces the word by giving the name of the objectwhich is pictured on both cards. Again, he may see the pictured fly onthe card 8, and matches that up with the card 11, which bears a pictureof a fly. Thus he forms the different words flag and fly, which wordsare similar in their common initial phonogram fl. (See Dr. Gatesrequirement 2Sensitiveness to similarity and differences in words)Authorities recommend that the entire word be presented first, then ananalysis of its parts. In my device the childs first impulse is to form,words by matching pictures. The child does not notice the printed partsof the word until he has completed the word, vivid in its picturedmeaning. Neither does he have to be told the pronunciation of its parts.He sees the word at once as a whole of clearly perceptible parts becauseall the clues are presented simultaneously. (See Dr. Gates requirements3 and 4.)

In Figure 3 the child may match all the pictures on group card I formingthe similar key words man, fan, and pan which rhyme. He is to think ofanother similar word not pictured which rhymes with man, fan, pan. If heutters the word can he recognizes the sound of c which sound herecognized when he uttered the pictured words cup, corn, coat, cow, etc.on 0 card 8. In his minds eye he recalls one or more of these pictures.Therefore he is able to find the 0 card and construct the word can.Likewise he can form t plan, bran, etc. (See Dr. Gates requirement2Similarities and differences in words. Ability to see common wordelements not only in isola tion or in familiar words, but in otherwords) Also to develop skill in several types of wordform analysis(requirement 2) games may be played. The cards have already beencollected to form words with the group card an. The teacher forms a keyword. The first child to recognize the Word captures the picturedinitial letter card 8. In like manner the teacher forms with the samegroup card an each similar word. The child is greatly aided by seeingthe pictured man-fan-pan key words with which his new word must rhyme.The one capturing the most cards 8 wins.

For phonetic synthesis-blending (requirement 3) the initial letter cards8 may be dealt to the players. The group cards I may be placed face downon the table. When a group card I is turned face up the child sees thekey words pictured such as man-fan-pan. The first child to form asimilar word with his initial card 8 may capture the group card I. Theobject is to capture the most group cards I.

In Figure 1 at bottom of board 9 a slot may support cards intosentences. Thus, The cat will catch the mouse. The previously describedriddles, word-form analysis and games and other clues have given anadequate foundation for sentence building. The expanded ideas in Figure3 will include the pictures of key words on the group cards I. Teachersmay form sentences to teach by the intrinsic method of presentingphonics within the reading situation. (See Dr. Gates requirement5--Abi1ity to use several types of word-form perception simultaneouslywith word c0ntext.)

According to the Beacon system, the initial consonants and a vowelcomprise the basic phonogram, and terminal letters are added thereto. Mydevice may be so arranged as to fit in with and enable the teaching ofreading and spelling by the Beacon method, complemental cards beingemployed as terminal cards of like consonantal characteristics insteadof initial cards as 8. Again, by placing the entire word upon thecolored card, especially when associated with pictured objects, thechild will quickly learn the vowel sounds as they are grouped in theappropriately colored areas and associated with the key card II, andthis will permit the employment of my system and devices by those whodesire to teach the word always as a single unit, not divided intoparts.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A phonic teaching appliance comprising a plurality of groups ofcards, each group bearing unlike word elements of like vowelcharacteristics, and the vowel characteristics of each group beingdifferent from the vowel characteristics of all other groups,complemental cards, each card bearing a complemental word elementcharacteristic, and a support divided into areas of readilydistinguishable characteristics, as color, and arranged to support theseveral card groups each in a separate area, and the complemental cardsin juxtaposition to any adaptable card of a group selected to constructa word from the aligned word elements on such juxtaposed cards.

2. A phonic teaching appliance comprising a plurality of groups ofcards, each group having varying terminal word elements of like vowelcharacteristics, initial cards, each bearing an initial word element, asupport adapted to display the several groups each in a correspondingarea, and the initial cards in juxtaposition to suitable cards of suchgroups with the initial and terminal word elements aligned tospell aword, and a key card for each of the several groups, each adapted to besupported in its respective group, and each key card having a picturedrepresentation of the ruling vowel characteristic of its correspondinggroup, each card group and its corresponding key card having adistinctive color, and said support having areas of corresponding colorto receive the several groups. p

3. A phonic teaching appliance comprising a plurality of groups ofcards, each card of each group bearing a single phonogram whichphonograms are related within the respective groups by the phonograms ofeach group incorporating a common vowel characteristic, and complementalcards, each card bearing a complemental phonogram, and adapted to bepositioned adjacent to any suitable selected card of the groups with thephonograms on the adjacent cards aligned to spell a word, and a supportdivided into areas of unlike characteristics (as diiferently colored),and each group of cards being correspondingly distinguished, such as thecards thereof being colored alike, and like the area of the supportcorresponding to such group, said support having means to facilitate thepositioning of the various groups of cards and complemental cards inproper juxtaposition.

4. A phonic teaching appliance comprising a support having means tofacilitate the positioning of a plurality of cards, and having areas ofunlike coloring and groups of cards, each group card'bearing a phonogramor word, and each group being colored to correspond to one of thesupport areas, the phonograms on all cards of each group having. relatedvocal characteristics, and differently colored key cards, one for eacharea, likewise supported each in its correspondingly colored area, andeach key card having a pictured object associated with the vocalcharacteristic of that group.

5. An appliance as in claim 4, each group card having thereon aplurality of pictures representing words containing the individualphonogram thereon.

6. In a phonic teaching appliance, an assembly of members comprisinggroups, each ,member bearing a literary symbol and a pluralityofdifferent pictured embodiments thereof, and each group constituting aunit distinguishable from all other groups by a characteristic, ascolor, common to all members of the given group and dif- :ferent fromthat characteristic which distinguishes the other groups, and theliterary symbols onthe members in each group having a common vowelcharacteristic, in combination with a set of complemental shiftablemembers, each member of said set having on its face a literary symboland a plurality of different pictured embodiments thereof, each of saidlast mentioned embodiments being identical with an embodiment on somemember of said assembly, and a support divided into areas correspondingin the same characteristic, as color, tothe respective member groups ofsaid assembly, and arranged to support the several member groups in suchareas, and also to support members of said set in juxtaposition tomembers of said assembly having thereon an identical embodiment, thus toform by a combination of the literary symbols on such adjacent membersthe literary name of the common pictured embodiment.

7. The combination of. claim 6, and terminal members also adapted to beplaced on the support in juxtaposition to suitable members of theassembly and the set to form therewith complex words.

8. A method of phonic teaching, which comprises displayingsimultaneously a plurality of phonograms in segregated groups, eachgroup including only phonograms having a common vowel characteristic,selecting a member from a mixed group of separate members, each bearingonly one complemental phonogram, and placing such selected member inposition to align its complemental phonogram with some displayedphonogram, appropriately selected from all those displayed so that thealigned phonograms will spell a word.

9. A method of phonic teaching, which comprises displayingsimultaneously a plurality of terminal phonograms, each starting with avowel, in segregated groups, each group including only phonograms havinga common initial vowel characteristic, displaying simultaneously aplurality of pictures of objects, the names of which all start with acommon initial phonogram and end each with a different one of theterminal phonograms displayed, each picture beside the displayedterminal phonogram incorporated in the name of the object-pictured,providing a single member bearing pictures similar to those displayedand bearing also the initial phonogram common to the names of suchobjects pictured, and successively matching the several pictures on'theinitial phonogram member with the corresponding pictures simultaneouslydisplayed beside the terminal phonograms, and. during each matchingoperation aligningthe initial phonogram with the terminal phonogrambeside the picture matched, to construct of such successively alignedphonograms the names of the objects portrayed by the pictures as theyare matched.

10. A phonic teaching device, comprising, in combination, means bearinga plurality of. phonogram groups, and displaying simultaneously all thephonograms of all the groups, each group consisting of a plurality ofphonograms having a common vowel characteristic, such characteristic ofeach group being different fromthe common vowel characteristics of theother groups, and a plurality of separate complemental members, eachbearing only one complemental phonogram, and each complemental memberbeing adaptedto be disposed separately with relation to said means toalign its complemental phonogram with a suitable group phonogram on saidmeans, selected from one of said groups to form of such alignedphonograms a word.

11. A phonic teaching device, comprising, in combination, means dividedinto a plurality of sections, each section being distinguished from allother sections by a peculiar characteristic, such as color, and eachsection bearing a group of phonograms having a common vowelcharacteristic, such characteristic of each group being different fromthe common vowel characteristics of the other groups, and complementalmeans bearing complemental phonograms, and adapted to be disposed withrelation to said first means to align a, complemental phonogram with asuitable phonogram selected from said groups to form of such alignedphonograms a word.

12. A phonic teaching device, comprising, in combination, meansdividedinto a plurality of sections, each section being distinguishedfrom all other sections by a peculiar characteristic, such as color, andeach section bearing a group of phonograms having a common vowelcharacteristic, such characteristic of each group being different fromthe common vowel characteristics of the other groups, and a plurality ofseparate complemental members, each member bearing only one complementalphonogram, and each complemental member being adapted to be disposedwith relation to said first means to align its complemental phonogramwith a suitable phonogram on said means, selected from one of saidgroups to form of such aligned phonograms a Word.

13. A phonic teaching device comprising, in combination, a plurality ofgroups of separate members, each member of each group bearing a singlephonogram, all the members in each group having a common characteristic,such as color, distinguishing the members of such group from the membersof all other groups, and the phonograms on all the members in each grouphaving a common vowel characteristic different from-the common vowelcharacteristic of the other groups, and complemental members, eachbearing a complemental phonogram, and adapted to be disposed with itsphonogram in alignment with the phonogram on any suitable member of saidgroups to form of such aligned phonograms a word. I

14. A phonic teaching appliance comprising supporting means bearing aplurality of groups of primary members bearing phonograms, whichphonograms are related within the respective groups by the phonograms oteach group incorpo rating a common vowel characteristic, andcomplemental members, each bearing a complemental phonogram, and adaptedto be positioned adjacent to any suitable selected phonogram of thegroups with the phonogram on the complemental member and the selectedgroup phonogram on said primary members aligned to spell a word, andsaid supporting means being divided into areas of unlike characteristics(as differently colored), and all the members bearing phonograms of eachgroup being disposed in a separate area of said supporting meansallocated to such group.

15. A phonic teaching device comprising, in combination, a plurality ofgroups of separate members, each member of each group bearing a singlephonogram, said groups in combination displaying simultaneously all thephonograms of all the groups, and the phonograms on all the members ofeach group having a common vowel characteristic different from thecommon vowel characteristics of the other groups, and a plurality ofseparate complemental members, each bearing only one complementalphonogram, and each complemental member being adapted to be disposedseparately with relation to a suitable group member with the phonogramson said members aligned to form of such aligned phonograms a word.

WINIFRED BAGLEY MESSINGER.

